If Monday evening is anything to go by, Wolverhampton Wanderers will be pinning their hopes on the two Matheus’ making the most of a bad situation.
There is no doubt that those supporters who made the journey from the West Midlands to Old Trafford will have left rather less gloomy than they arrived — there were positives to take from this narrow opening-day defeat to Manchester United.
Wolves may have spurned countless chances to open the scoring before Raphael Varane scored the decisive goal for the home side, and frustrations in the away section may have come to a head when their team were wrongly not awarded a penalty when Andre Onana clattered into Sasa Kalajdzic, but still there was reason for optimism, even though they should have left with more than platitudes.
Wolves probably are not many people’s second favourite team; they have frequently been one of the lowest scorers in the Premier League in recent seasons and also have been known to deploy a deep defensive line which together do not exactly lend itself to the team’s games being hyped to the maximum.
Throw in that Julen Lopetegui walked away from the club on the eve of the season and that Financial Fair Play rules mean that they have failed to make any significant upgrades having shed around £90m worth of talent this summer — the picture looked bleak as the campaign loomed.
But a layer of gloom lifted with the way new manager Gary O’Neil set up his side and the manner in which they played away at United. The former Bournemouth manager, who turned that particular ship around last term, clearly made the most of the four days he had with his new charges.
And on this evidence it’s clear that Matheus Nunes and Matheus Cunha will be key to Wolves staying in the division.
Duo created but couldn't finish Wolves' chances
Both were constant threats against United. Cunha perhaps had his best game in old gold since his £43m signing from Atletico Madrid in January. Yes, he was guilty of the infamous Wolves foible of missing chances, but he did create and got himself in promising positions.
Cunha was one of two mobile forwards and he dropped deep to collect possession before charging through United’s rather non-existent midfield. The 24-year-old Brazilian showed good close control and strength to keep powering forward but should have done better with his goalscoring opportunities; sending one against the post and another that Onana tipped around the post.
“He missed a lot of training this week with a slight issue so we were never going to get 90 minutes out of him, but he caused Manchester United some real problems,” O’Neil said of his forward.
“Lots of things he can still improve and he knows what they are. I’ve tried to help him as much as I can, and we’re going to keep pushing because there is one hell of a player in there.
“But we do need to still work and get him to a level that I think he can be at to be able to do what he did more regularly, add a goal at the end of it, be able to do it for 90 minutes and lead the team. But he’s a talented boy that played a big part in a good performance for us.”
Equally impressive was Nunes whose burst through the middle ultimately led to Cunha’s first opening and emboldened the away team to play more boldly. There was an energy and eagerness to get forward that has not been associated with Wolves for some time.
Still, converting those chances and scoring more frequently are at the top of the list of Wolves’ priorities if they are to rally against the negativity that currently surrounds the club.
Working from the base up is what O’Neil hopes to keep doing. “I started from zero on Thursday and tried to get the lads ready to come and win a game, and we got close.”